Ed Sheeran surprises fans with laneway performance

Ed Sheeran has chosen the much smaller confines of a laneway for his latest performance in Melbourne.

After three sold out gigs at Etihad Stadium over the weekend, and ahead of another tonight, the mega pop star decided to host a “secret performance” in the iconic Hosier Lane – which is lined with street art.

Thousands of fans squeezed into the laneway and surrounding areas to catch a glimpse of the ginger lad as part of the iHeartRadio Awards event.

“I don’t want to be that guy but I do have to save my voice,” he told fans.

“If you’re coming tonight, I promise it will be an A+ performance.”

Sheeran encouraged the audience to sing along to his hit, "Perfect". (AAP) (AAP)Young fans flocked the the iconic laneway for the very special performance. (AAP) (AAP)

The single song set was streamed live to the United States as he accepted the Song of the Year for his smash hit, Shape of You.

"I’m in Melbourne at the moment it's 10.15 in the morning. And I am accepting this award thank you so much. And they've set up so I can play so i'll play a song for you now if that's alright?" he said speaking down the camera to the millions of viewers across the globe.

Sheeran will perform his final Melbourne show at Etihad stadium tonight before heading to Sydney.

Fans gathered to watch Ed Sheeran performing in Hosier Lane in Melbourne. (AAP) (AAP)Ed Sheeran has performed three sold out gigs at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne over the weekend. (AAP) (AAP)